Well casing protector



July 10, 1934. w. w. WILLIAMS WELL cAsING PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 29, 1928Patented July 1Q, 1934 WELL oAsnvG PROTECTOR Willis Waugh Williams, LosAngeles, Calif., assignor of one-third to John B. Elliott, and onethirdto Richard Young, `both of Los Angeles,

Calif.

Application August 29, 1928,` serial No. v302,75*?

5 Claims.

drilling oil wells by the rotary method of drilling, being mores'pecic'ally a device forming al protector or guard placed upon a drillstring for 5 the purpose of protecting the casing and the,

drill string from undue wear resulting from engagement therebetweenduring the rotation movement of the drill string in the casing.

It is a well known fact among those` familiar 19 with the art to whichthis invention 4relates that oil wells or wells of any nature, due tothe variations in the formations through which they penetrate, do notfollow a vertical course, but have atendency to deviate from thevertical, making many curves and irregularities in the path which thecasing follows. Due to this fact, the drill string which operates withinthe casing is necessarily brought into engagement with the inner surfaceof the casing at various irregular points, 20 and` due to its constantrotation and oscillation thereagainst has a tendency to Wear and weakenthe casing, in many cases resulting in the perforation or collapse ofthe casing at these points. Various types of protectors and guides havebeen developed for obviating the wear of the casing and drill pipe, oneform being the subject of an application for patent led by me on the 9thday of April, 1928, Serial No. 268,746, in which the protector lis madeof non-metallic substance such as rubber composition or the likereinforced by metal, and my present invention is an improved form yoverthat disclosed in my prior application above referred to.

The principal object of my present invention is to produce a protectorof the class described of simple form and construction in `which therubber composition bodies of which the protector is formed overlap atthe joints. It is a further object of my invention to provide 40. animproved protector of the class described with clamping means having awedge action whereby the protector is prevented from sliding -on thedrill pipe. 4 Referring to the drawing which is for illustrationpurposes only.

= My invention relates in general to the art of l Figure 5 is asectional plan view on line 5-5 of Figure 4; and Figure Gris a verticalsectional view on line 6 6 of Figure 3.

More particularly describing the form of my o invention shown in thedrawing, 1l designates a Well casing in a well 12, and 13 designates adrill string consisting of lengths of drill pipe connected by means ofcouplings 14. Mounted on the drill pipe between the couplings are casingprotecting collars 15 which it is understood may be placed at anydesired location on the pipe between the couplings 14. Each casingprotecting collar consists of two semicylindrical segments 16 and 17formed of rubber 70 composition molded about reinforcing -metal1icmembers land 19, the outer ends of the reinforcing members being formedwith clamping fingers or loops indicated at 20, eachprovided withtapered openings to receive a correspondingly tapered locking pin 21.

In the present form of my invention the rubber composition of thesegments 16 and 17 extends around the clamping fingers 20 of thereinforcing member thereby forming interlocking members 22 on the rubberbody which interlock as shown in Figure 1 so that the outer surface ofthe collar when assembled is provided with a substantially uninterruptedsurface.

With this form of collar no extended wearing l edges are exposed but asubstantially uninterrupted circular face of the collar forms thewearing surface presented to the casing'.

The collars may be placed at any desired positionon the drill pipe ,andclamped firmly to the pipe by the insertion of pins 21 which, being oftapered form in engagement with the tapered openings in the fingers 20,draw the two seg-- ments of the collars together about the pipe.

The pins 2,1 are each provided with a flange or head 25 which engagesthe upper face of the collar, the pins being of sufcient length topermit the ends to be bent over as indicated at 26 in Figure 6. It willbe understood `that the -collars may be readily removed from the drill Ifi e bV strai htenin e bent end 26 and lac- Figure 1 is a verticalsectional view of a por-r p p y g g th p ing `a suitable tool under thehead 25 by means of which the pin may be driverrTout of the fingers 20.

The reinforcing members 18 and 19J.re pref- 105 erably formed of sheetmetal provided with a plurality of openings or perforations 30 thereinthrough which the rubber composition is molded, thereby firmly securingthe reinforcement in place, and it will be noted from Figln'e 5 that 110the reinforcing 'member is of sumcient thickness to be non-exible.'

The interlocking fingers 20 are formed on the reinforcing member bystamping cao-operating projections 32 and bending these projections backon the body of the metal as indicated at 33 in Figure 5 and fasteningAthe inner ends of such projections in any suitable manner as by spotWelding.

What I claim is:

1. A casing protector comprising a nonmetallic collar adapted tosurround a drill string, a reinforcing metal plate imbedded in saidcollar, clamping fingers formed on said plate imbedded in said collarand a tapered locking pin in said fingers. v.

2. A casing protector comprising a nonmetallic collar adapted tosurround a drill string, a reinforcing metal vplate imbedded in saidcollar, clamping ngers formed on said plate imbedded in said collar anda tapered locking pin in said lingers, said plate having openingsextending therethrough through which the material of said collarextends, v

3. A casing protector comprising two semicylindrical segments adapted tosurround a drill pipe, each segment consisting of a reinforcingjforcingmember in each segment, said reinforcing member having" fingers thereonextending into said interengaging members to form said pin receivingopenings.

5. A casing protector comprising: a non-metal- `.lic collar adapted tosurround a drill string; a

reinforcing metal plate embedded in said collar; clamping ngers formedon said plate embedded in said collar; and locking means adapted tocooperate with said fingers.

WILLIS WAUGH WILLIAMS.

